Investigators have identified the woman who blew herself up in a minibus in Dagestan this week as 18-year-old Sidrat Gasanbekova, Itar-Tass reported Wednesday.An F-1 hand grenade that Gasanbekova was carrying in her bag accidentally went off Tuesday, killing her and injuring eight passengers, said Saidula Badalov, the lead investigator into the explosion, the report said.
The minibus was traveling to Khasavyurt, and the blast occurred just after it passed a police checkpoint in the village of Dylym, some 10 kilometers east of the border with Chechnya.
Investigators have found no evidence linking Gasanbekova to any rebel groups in the North Caucasus, Badalov said. Gasanbekova was wearing blue jeans and had kept her hair loose, an appearance that would not be adopted by women associated with the rebels, who practice a strict form of Islam, Badalov said. Gasanbekova lived in a village near the scene of the explosion. Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev suggested on Rossia television Wednesday that the blast might have been an act of revenge. He did not elaborate.